PRACTICE AND DISPASSION
Lord Krishna's special prescription for attaining success in the spiritual life in and through the world was abhyasa and vairagya (practice and dispassion). Abhyasa and vairagya are twin corollaries. They cannot be separated. They are mutually supportive. The more you do abhyasa, the more you grow in vairagya. The more you practise vairagya, the more your abhyasa begins to progress and begins to be effective. They are like two wings of a bird.
This ancient divine teaching of Lord Krishna, His prescription for attaining supreme bliss and blessedness, was also expressed by Gurudev in his permanent message to mankind: Detach. Attach. Detach means vairagya. Attach means abhyasa. Doing and not doing both constitute practical religion. They are the obverse and reverse of the same coin.
Doing good to others is the positive aspect. Not harming, hurting or injuring others is the negative aspect of religion. To cultivate satsanga, the company of the wise, means to avoid the company of that which is asat or the company of that which is likely to take or turn you away from the sat.
This avoidance is as important an aspect of spiritual life, Sadhana and Self-realisation as is the cultivating. Lord Krishna said: "trividham narakasyedam dvaram nasanam atmanah kamah krodhas tatha lobhas tasmad etat trayam tyajet (Triple is the gate of this hell, destructive of the self-lust, anger and greed; therefore one should abandon these three)." And Gurudev said: "Free us from egoism, lust, greed, hatred, anger and jealousy."
Thus, the whole of the scriptures contains nothing but cultivating and avoiding. The whole of religion is nothing but turning away from Mammon and moving towards God. We cannot worship God and Mammon at the same time. You cannot run with the hare and hunt with the hounds.
This avoidance is not an external practice. There is nothing outside to avoid because everything is God-all this is Brahman: sarvam khalvidam brahma. This Sadhana of avoidance is something which is carried on within yourself, within your heart, your mind, your personality. Lust, anger and greed are not outside. There is no sin or evil outside. There is nothing to be avoided outside. If the inner avoidance has been done, the outer avoidance is meaningless. For one established in Brahmacharya all company is the same.
Within you there are also things which you must cultivate, you must cherish, you must practise. Abhyasa is also within you. Abhyasa is for the svarupa (divine essence) to constantly affirm Itself, assert Itself, manifest Itself in an active manner.
Vairagya and abhyasa are both to be done in the realm of the kurukshetra (battlefield) within you. A Sadhaka is a being who is at war with himself inside. He fights the battle on two fronts: the practice of the active presence of the inner svarupa and, at the same time, dispassion for all those things that mitigate against this practice. -Swami Chidananda
* * *
